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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25827895">death doesn't discriminate</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellation_roses/pseuds/constellation_roses'>constellation_roses</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Bee Miraculous, Cat Miraculous, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kwami Swap, Ladybug Miraculous, Lila Rossi Lies, No Dialogue, Sad, Snake Miraculous, Suicide, Suicide Notes, Tiger Miraculous</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:48:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,085</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25827895</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellation_roses/pseuds/constellation_roses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Marinette dies, the Heroes of Paris have to piece themselves back together and keep moving forward, no matter how difficult it is.</p><p>Please read the tags!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>death doesn't discriminate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>suicide is no joke. please talk to someone if you are feeling depressed, self harming, or considering suicide. </p><p>although it isn't really explained in the fic, lila and her lies are what drive marinette to commit suicide. she makes good on her promise to take all of marinettes friends away, which leads to marinette becoming depressed and eventually killing herself. in this fic, chloe redeems herself and she and marinette become friends when the rest of the class isolates her for calling out lila and her lies. marinette is also good friends with kagami, and tells her what's going on at dupont even though she isn't involved.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Dear Chloe,</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>These last months would have been unbearable if not for you. Even if it wasn't enough to save me in the end, I will always be grateful to have had your company. I know you might want to blame yourself for this, but please don't. It isn't your fault that it came to this. You did everything you could for me. Don't blame the class either. Lila told them what they wanted to hear. I know that isn't very convincing, but they are being manipulated. We both know that. The only person to blame for this is Lila. Still, I don't want you to ruin her. If the time comes where you can expose her lies, please do so, but don't make her life miserable. You're above that now, Chlo.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Chloe, I'm so proud of how much you've grown recently. You went from my tormentor to my closest friend. I know that you're a good person, and I hope you can continue to be kinder and do better even after I'm gone. I believe in you.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I know we didn't get the chance to talk much about it, but your idea of an anti-bullying charity is a great one and I know you can make it happen. Make a plan, and execute it. Don't hesitate. (There's some Kagami advice for you)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>One last thing. I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, have renounced the title of Ladybug and have chosen to pass the miraculous to Kagami Tsurugi. Chloe Bourgeois, you will now carry the bee miraculous full time. I know I said you could never be Queen Bee again, and I stand by that, but I'm sure you and Pollen can come up with something new. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>You know Chat Noir and I never knew each other's identities for our own safety. The time for that has passed. You and Kagami will need to support each other both in and out of the mask in order to succeed. I believe in you both. That said, Chat Noir doesn't know any of this. Attached with this letter and your miraculous is a letter for him. Please give it to him when you see him next, and give him a hug for me. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Please remember me fondly, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Marinette</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>---</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Chloe set aside the letter Marinette had written. She had read it over and over again the whole week, trying to figure out where she went wrong. Even though Marinette had said not to blame herself, Chloe couldn't help it. Marinette was gone because her support wasn't enough. Lila had won, and she had hurt the sweetest girl Chloe had ever met. It just wasn't fair.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe had found out quickly that Kagami had gotten a similar letter, but attached to hers was the Ladybug miraculous. Both girls had cried for hours together, remembering the bright girl who had faded so much so quickly. </p><p> </p><p>Chat Noir had taken it even harder than the girls had. Even though Ladybug had always been a stickler for secret identities and had never talked about her civilian life, he still blamed himself for not doing anything.</p><p> </p><p>With Chat Noir's letter, Marinette had given him the miracle box and the title of guardian. She had also revealed her identity as Ladybug, and told him to trust that he could reveal himself to the new miraculous holders. Although suspicious at first, it quickly became clear that there were no tricks and that the letter really did include Marinette's last wishes.</p><p> </p><p>After that, things just continued to change. </p><p> </p><p>Adrien stepped down as Chat Noir. He continued to be the guardian and work closely with Chloe and Kagami, however, the ladybug and cat miraculi had to be active together, leading Chloe to step down as Honey Bee and take on the cat miraculous as Wildcat. </p><p> </p><p>Hawkmoth continued to send out akumas of increasing difficulty, but he seemed to rely on Mayura less and less. Despite that, the new heroes were still in over their heads.</p><p> </p><p>Adrien had taken on the fox miraculous as Fennec when it became clear that they were overwhelmed. Even still, akumas took longer and longer to defeat. The heroes brought Luka back to hold the snake miraculous as Viperion again, and gave Juleka the tiger so that she could become Tigress. </p><p> </p><p>They also started actively looking for Hawkmoth, instead of passively fighting his akumas. Within a month, they had found him. All of the heroes were shocked when Hawkmoth turned out to be Gabriel Agreste. Chloe knew Adrien was glad that he wasn't Chat Noir anymore. No one should have to fight their own father. </p><p> </p><p>After Gabriel and Nathalie were taken away, the heroes discovered Emilie Agreste. Since Adrien had been able to study the miraculous book extensively as the guardian, he was able to fix the peacock miraculous and save his mother. Emilie immediately denounced her husband, and upon discovering the identities of Paris' heroes, very nearly adopted all of them at once. </p><p> </p><p>In the end, Lila Rossi was harder to defeat than Hawkmoth. Her lies were so extensive and entangled that it was difficult to get proof of anything. Despite the fact that Marinette had died because of her lies, her class still followed the liar like sheep. After a lot of planning, even more interviews, and one last purple butterfly, the heroes were able to out Lila as a liar. </p><p> </p><p>Unable to stay in Paris, Lila was extradited back to Italy along with her mother. Everyone that had believed Lila's lies were shocked and appalled. In hindsight, it was easy to see how fake she was. Most of her lies were barely even believable. The class begged Adrien and Juleka for forgiveness, but it was too late for that. They didn't even try Chloe, knowing that it would never happen.</p><p> </p><p>Despite all their accomplishments, the heroes of Paris were still grieving teenagers, and it showed. None of them could keep from crying when Marinette was mentioned. Kagami always had to excuse herself from the press after being asked about Ladybug. Chloe, Adrien, and Juleka couldn't step foot in their old school after realizing that their classmates were partially to blame for Marinette's death. They had all transferred after receiving Marinette's letters. Luka struggled to play anyone's heart song, as he was always reminded of Marinette's. </p><p> </p><p>Marinette's memory lived on in them. So when Chloe announced the creation of the MDC Foundation for Mental Health, they all cried together, honoring the girl who always stood up for what was right and died for it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>before writing this fic, i never understood when writers would say that they cried while writing something, but i totally cried while writing this and i get it now.</p><p>some parts of this felt a little unexplained or rushed to me, so sorry if it was hard to understand. constructive criticism is always appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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